Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The embarrassment suffered by The Irish Timesafter publishing a hoax opinion piece about the evils of cultural appropriation involved in using fake tan suggests that the more debate we engage in on truth and falsehood in the mainstream media and on social media, the better. Where do we get the truth from and who do we trust to tell us the truth? Three months ago, I challenged the new disinformation strategy group set up by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to show maximum transparency and openness in its work. I said we did not need a new ministry of truth and that citizens should be able to think and express free thoughts freely. Such openness and transparency is vital given the potential for a strong influence of social media companies on Irish policy. It is also important since the Future of Media Commission, which recommended setting up the strategy group, wants the group to be an early shaper of the code of practice for the European Digital Services Act.

How has the disinformation group fared? It has published only procedural minutes and those for just two of at least three meetings held up to 24 March. I challenge people to find those minutes, by the way. Much more transparency is needed in respect of the group's discussions. Its original terms of reference are hard to find anywhere. The published revised terms make no mention of addressing falsehood – only undefined disinformation. Without a clear declaration that truth is the focus of the group’s work, many people will be rightly suspicious of its agenda, focus and priorities.

The Future of Media Commission’s report expressed a view that Ireland should be a leader in public policy and innovation to enhance online trust and safety while protecting freedom of speech, and I emphasis those words. While it is true that the strategy group terms of reference acknowledge the importance of free, independent and high-quality journalism, the same freedom of speech for ordinary citizens is not mentioned anywhere. Omitting this wider context from the terms is worrying, given that freedom of expression is a basic building block of democratic society, whereas countering disinformation is an optional subordinate role of Government. People want to source accurate and true information, not viewpoints funnelled through State-sponsored channels, which are inevitably politicised.In that regard I urge the strategy group to question the narrative that fact checkers, often politicised, necessarily lead us to the truth. Citizens should be vigilant about the work of this strategy group and monitor its output.

However, to go back briefly to The Irish Times, we heard a good deal about the need for source checking, identification checking and the dangers of AI-generated content and images. We do not know whether The Irish Timessaw this article as controversial clickbait or whether it was trying to open up a new front in identity politics. However, we do know that the piece was not presented in jest, and that fact alone suggests an editorial office in perhaps the State’s most influential newspaper that is sufficiently infected by the woke virus-----